Refining-machine for coffee.



H. L. JOHNSTON.

REFINING MACHINE FOR COFFEE.

APPLICATION FILED DEG.17, 1910.

Patented Feb. 13, 1912.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

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H. L.. JOHNSTON REFINING MACHINE FOR COFFEE.

APPLICATION TILED 10120.17, 1910.

Patented Feb. 13, 1912.

2 SHEETSSHE ET 24 COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH cu.. WASHINGTON. v, c

UNTTE %AT% A J I;

HERBERT JOHNSTON, OF TROY, OHIO, ASSIGNOR- TO THE HOBART ELECTRIC MANU-FACTURING COMPANY, OF TROY, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

REFINING-MACI-IINE FOR COFFEE.

noraose.

Application filed December 17, 1910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT L. JOHN- sroN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of the city of Troy, in the county of Miami andState of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRefining-\facliines for Coffee, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an effective apparatus forremoving the chaff from ground coffee, and the invention consists ofthat certain novel construction and arrangement of parts to behereinafter particularly pointed out and claimed,

whereby the ground coffee may be evenly.

and effectively spread out by centrifugal force upon a rapidly revolvinghorizontally disposed sieve or plate, and during its passage through'the machine the ground material may be subjected to a uniform andproperly controlled air blast to separate out the chafi and other refusefrom the ground material.

Another object is to provide a construction in which the chaff alone maybe removed from' the coffee delivered to the refining machine, or whendesired the coffee may be graded and the dust, of such degree ofpulverization as desired, may be simultaneously separated from thecoffee by an additional separator, and to this end I have provided aconvenient construction for changing the centrifugal plates or sieves asoccasion may require.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved machinepartly in vertical section. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the distributingsieve. Fig. 3 is a detail section of a portion of the sieve and thefixed receptacle over which it fits. Fig. tis a detail view of the sievesupport with a portion of the sieve in vertical section. Fig. 5 is aplan view of the supporting ring for the refining vessels. Fig. 6 is aplan view of the central support with the operating parts.

The main body portion of the refiner is formed, in the preferredconstruction, of two concentric, funnel-shaped annular ves-Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 13, 1912.

Serial No. 597,765.

sels 1 and 2, of sheet metal or other suitable material, spaced apart byspacing blocks 3, 3, to leave an annular passageway 4 between the twovessels, and these vessels are mounted on an annular casting 5, providedwith bosses 6, 6, in which are secured the legs or standards 7, 7, forholding the apparatus a suitable distance above the base plate 8 of themachine. As the main purpose of this construction is to provide theannular passageway 1, it will be understood that the inner vessel may beomitted, and such annular passage formed between the inner and outerwalls of a single vessel, in which 1 would form the outer wall, and 2the inner wall. The two vessels and the supporting casting 5 are securedtogether by the screws 9 inserted through the ring casting and thespacing blocks, which screws take into the ends of the arms 10, 10, ofthe hollow casting 11, mounted centrally within the inner vessel 2. Thiscasting 11 is hollow vertically and horizontally to provide journalbearings for the vertical shaft 12 and the horizontal shaft 13 providedrespectively with intermeshing beveled gears 14 and 15. On the upper endof the shaft 12 is secured the sieve support 16, provided with a flangedbase 17 which rides on the upper face of the vertical portion of thecasting and supports the shaft 12 in position. This sieve support 16 issquared and formed in the shape of a pyramid 18 for its upper portion.

19 is a disk of sheet metal or a sieve provided with a depending fiange20, and this sieve has a central square opening therein which fits overthe squared portion of the sieve support so as to mount the sievethereon, and over this square opening a coneshaped cover 21 is securedso as to form a suitable cover for the sieve support, and also to serveas an agitator to prevent clogging and to distribute the coffeedelivered from the hopper upon the disk or sieve, and for this purposethe cone may be roughened (fir provided with wings on its outer surace.

The outer funnel-shaped vessel 1 is open below, but is provided with aclose fitting cover 22 which fits over the upturned flange of the outervessel. The central portion of this cover 22 is formed into an elbow 23,upon the lateral opening of which is fitted the horizontal sheet metalpipe 24. In a circular opening in the upper portion of the elbow 23 isfitted and secured the discharge tube 25 of the hopper 26, which hopperprimarily receives the ground coffee and discharges the same through thedownwardly extending discharge tube 25 upon the coneshaped centralportion 21 of the sieve or plate 19.

Fitted inside the discharge tube 25 is a telescopic extension tube 27secured to the tube 25 by set screw 28 which projects through a suitableslot 29 in the tube 25, so that the extension tube can be adjustedvertically and held in the desired position in the discharge tube 25 ofthe hopper. This extension tube extends down over the cone shapedupwardly projecting portion of the sieve or plate 19, and by adjustingthe tube 27 the annular discharge opening at the bottom of the tube canbe increased or diminished as desired.

Mounted on the lateral pipe 24 extending over the elbow is a sieveextension 30 secured to the pipe 24 by the thumb screw 31,

which takes through the diagonal slot 32 in the sieve 30, so that byloosening the thumb screw and rotating the sleeve, the length of theextension may be increased or diminished.

WVhile any suitable motive power may be employed for driving myapparatus, I prefer to provide an electric motor which is indicated at33, the casing for which is mounted on the pedestal 34 erected on thebase plate 8 at a convenient distance from the refiner. Secured to themotor casing by suitable brackets 35 is a suction blower 36 of anydesired construction, the fans of which are driven in any desired wayfrom the armature shaft of the motor, and the lateral suction opening 37of this blower is presented to the open end of the adjustable sleeve 30forming the air blast conduit from the refiner. The force of thesuctionthrough the pipe is regulated by adjusting the sleeve 30. Thenthe full force of the blower is exerted, the sleeve 30 is projected intothe lateral opening in the blower so as to close the opening, and if itis desired to reduce the force of the blower, the sleeve is adjusted soas to leave greater or less of an opening 38 at the end of the sleeve.The electric motor is also provided with the grooved pulley 39 which, bya suitable cord or belt 40, drives the grooved pulley 41, mounted on theend of the shaft 13, journaled in the lateral arm 42 of the motorpedestal.

The inner vessel 2 over which the sieve or plate 19 is fitted isprovided with a lid or trap door 43 to close the lower end of thevessel, which trap door is hinged at 44, so as to allow the trap door todrop open as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, when the support forthe trap door is removed, and this trap door is supported in anysuitable way by the upper portion of the receiving can 45 for therefined coffee, which is located beneath the discharge from the funnelsand supported on a grid 51 inserted in an opening in the base plate 8between the supporting standards 7. The receiving can is provided with ahandle 46 for manipulating the can; while underneath the receiving canfor the refined coffee is another can 47, provided with a handle 48,which can is intended to receive the dust deposited in the innerreceptacle when the ground coffee can is removed, and the trap door 43opens to allow the dust to drop through the grid into the can.

The operation of the apparatus will be evident from the foregoingdescription.

The apparatus is designed to use sieves of various sizes of mesh, or anunperforated sheet met-a1 flanged plate can be used in place of thesieves, when it is not desired to sift the dust into the innerreceptacle, so that all sieves and plates are made interchangeable. Theoperator selects the desired sieve or plate, and having removed thecover 22, he mounts the sieve upon the sieve holder by fitting thesquare opening in'tlie sieve over the corresponding projection on theholder,

as hereinbefore described. The amount of the annular discharge openingaround the central portion of the sieve is. then adjusted as desired andthe cover replaced. The ground coffee is then delivered into the hopper26 and the driving power of the refiner turned on to actuate the blowerand rotate the shaft 13. The rotation of the shaft 13 drives thevertical shaft 12 and the sieve holder with the sieve thereon at a highrate of speed, and the coffee is agitated and prevented from clogging atthe mouth of the discharge tube by the cone, and is spread out by thecentrifugal force into an even and uniform layer and projected over theedge of the sieve holder while the current of air entering the annularpassage 4 at the bottom of the receptacle draws the chaff into theblower and out through the opening 50, or into a suitable conduitconnected therewith. lVhere a sieve has been selected, as the groundcoffee passes over the top surface of the sieve, the fine dust dropsinto the inner receptacle into which the air is prevented from enteringby the trap door 43, and the dust is held there until the receiving can45 is withdrawn, which allows the trap door to open and the dust to fallthrough the grid which supported the receiving can into the lowerreceiving can. WVhere it is not desired to sift the coffee but merely toremove the chaff,instead of a sieve, the operator selects a similarlyflanged imperforate plate and mounts it-upon the sieve holder in thesame way, and proceeds as before.

Vith my apparatus, it will be understood that any desired cleaning orrefining of the coffee may be readily accomplished, and that the fiow ofthe coffee from the hopper, the speed with which it is spread out overthe rotating plate, and the power of the suction may all be regulated asdesired, so that the machine is adapted for any and all conditions.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a coffee refiner, an inner and an outer funnel shaped vesselspaced apart to form an annular passage between them through which thecoffee falls-by gravity, a disk forming a cover for the inner vesselmounted horizontally over said inner vessel, with means for rotating thedisk, a hopper with discharge tube therefor over the central portion ofsaid disk, and means for creating an air blast through the annularpassageway opposed to the movement of the coffee with the inner vesselinclosed from access to the air.

2. In a coffee refiner, an inner and an outer vessel spaced apart toform an annular passage between them through which the coffee falls bygravity, a disk mounted horizontally above said annular passage, withmeans for rotating the disk, a hopper with discharge tube therefor overthe cen tral portion of said disk, and an exhaust blower to create anair blast through the annular passageway opposed to the movement of thecoffee, and means for regulating the amount of the blast with the innervessel inclosed from access to the air.

3. In a coffee refiner, an inner and an outer vessel spaced apart toform an annular passage between them through which the coffee falls bygravity, a perforated disk forming a cover for the inner vessel havingan upwardly extending cone-shaped central portion, with means forrotating the disk to project the coffee into said annular passage and todeposit the finer particles within said inner vessel, a hopper anddischarge therefrom over the central portion of said perforated disk,and means for creating an air blast through the annular passagewayopposed to the movement of the coffee.

4:. A coffee refiner comprising a horizontally mounted rotatable disk,having an up wardly extending cone shaped central portion, a deliverytube to deliver the coffee upon said cone, and means to adjust thedistance between the end of the tube and the cone to regulate the amountof the delivery opening, an annular receptacle to receive the coffeeprojected from the disk through which the coffee falls by gravity, andmeans for creating an air blast through the annular receptacle opposedto the movement of the coffee.

5. A coffee refiner comprising a horizontally mounted rotatable disk,having an upwardly extending cone shaped central portion, a deliverytube to deliver the coffee upon said cone, and means to adjust thedistance between the end of the tube and the cone to regulate the amountof the delivery opening, an inner and an outer vessel spaced apart toform an annular passage to receive the coffee projected from the diskthrough which the coffee falls by gravity, and means for creating an airblast through the annular passage opposed to the movement of the coffee.

6. A coffee refiner, comprising a horizontally mounted rotatable diskhaving perforations, and provided with an upwardly extending,imperforate, cone-shaped central portion, a delivery tube to deliver thecoffee upon said cone, an inner and an outer vessel spaced apart to forman annular passage to receive the coffee projected from the perforated.disk through which the cofiee falls by gravity, with the innerreceptacle provided with a door to retain the coffee dust within theinner receptacle and a suction blower to create an air blast opposed tothe movement of the coffee through the annular passage between the twovessels.

7 In a cofiee refiner, a horizontally mounted rotatable disk having anupwardly extending cone shaped central portion, a delivery tube todeliver the coffee centrally upon said cone, means for adjusting thelength of the delivery tube to vary the delivery opening, and an annularreceptacle to receive the coffee projected from the disk.

8. In a coffee refiner, an inner and an outer vessel spaced apart toform an annular passage between them through which the coffee falls bygravity, a perforated disk forming a cover for the inner vessel, withmeans for rotating the disk to project the coffee into said annularpassage and to deposit the finer particles within said inner vessel,with removable receiving cans located below the inner and outer vessels,a grid to support one receiving can above the other, and a door for theinner vessel in contact with the upper receiving can and adapt ed toopen when the upper can is removed to allow the dust to drop into thelower receiving can.

9. In a coffee refiner, an inner and an outer vessel spaced apart toform an annular passage between them through which the coffee falls bygravity, a perforated disk forming a cover for the inner vessel, withmeans for rotating the disk to project the coffee into said annularpassage and to deposit the finer particles within said inner vessel, ahopper and discharge therefrom upon the central portion of saidperforated disk, and means for creating an 'air blast can and'adapted toopen when the upper through the annular passageway opposed can isremoved to allow the dust to drop to the movement of the coffee, withremovinto the lower receiving can.

able cans located below the inner and outer HERBERT L. JOHNSTON.vessels, a grid to support one receiving can Attest: above the other,and a door for the inner E. E. EDGAR,

vessel in contact with the upper receiving J. M. SPENCER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

